The end of the Ring

Well, time for my final "I don't really know what I am talking about" review of the Ring Cycle - because I managed to get through Acts 2 and 3 of Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods, Wiki informs me) on the weekend.

Act 2:  the plot here is fairly confusing - although I think now that I read the explanation on Wiki, it was probably because I wasn't paying close enough attention at the end of Act 1.   So, going back there for a moment:  under the spell of a potion by bad guy Hagen, and the use of a magic helmet called the Tarnhelm, Siegfried took on the shape of Hagen's half brother Gunther and walked through the ring of fire to get to Brunnhilde, snatched the ring (yes, that ring) off her finger and putting it on his [that is, fake Gunther's] hand, making her his [fake Gunther's] instantly, apparently.

In Act 2, Siegfried teleports [uh, Tarnhelm - it's a bit like a Tardis that fits on the head, apparently] back to Hagen to claim the woman he wants - Gunther's sister Gutrune.   (See, he's forgotten all about how he had fallen for Brunnhilde.)  Real Gunther then arrives back with Brunnhilde in tow, with the plan to have a double wedding.   

Things then get all very high conflict, when Brunnhilde realises (by seeing the ring on Siegfried's finger - not Gunther's) that she's been conned, somehow, and as Siegfried still doesn't understand that he's been played by Hagen, he goes off to marry Gutrune anyway. 

[If there is one key feature of the Ring Cycle, it's that falling insanely in love and getting hitched takes place in phenomenally short timeframes!  Maybe all opera is like that - I really wouldn't know.]

While Siegfried and Gutrune are tying the knot off stage, Hagen, Gunther and Brunnhilde all decide that to restore everyone's honour, Siegfried needs to die.   Brunnhilde, obviously, is not a woman lightly crossed.

The best thing about Act 2: a chorus, hurrah - comprising the Gibichung army!   And it's used in (what seemed to me) an unusual way - it talks back and forth with Hagen.  Like: "hey, why did you summons us, Hagen?"  "To come to a wedding."   "Oh, cool.  Whose wedding?"  And so on.  That's not the way chorus's usually work in opera, is it?   I found it a bit amusing.   But I did like hearing a big chorus after after listening to mostly solo voices for the previous 14 hours.     

Anyway, onto the climax:   Act 3.  Spoilers ahead!

Well,  there's not much to tell, really:   Siegfried has gone out hunting and got separated from Hagen and Gunther, unaware they have plans for him.   The Rhinemaidens make a re-appearance, and warn Siegfried that the ring is cursed and if he'll end up dead that day unless he gives it back to the Rhine.   Dumb old (well, young, but usually played by old singers it seems) Siegfried scoffs, and is shortly thereafter shafted - literally - by Hagen.   

Hagen gets him carried home on his shield, to a fantastic bit of music, and lies to Gutrune that her husband of less than 24 hours has been killed by a wild boar.

The truth comes out soon enough, to everyone, including Brunnhilde.  She decides to re-join Siegfried by jumping into his funeral pyre, together with her horse,  and takes the opportunity to torch the Gods in Valhalla pretty much at the same time, in revenge for mucking her around.  (We had been told by someone - I forget who - that Wotan has been moping around in Valhalla, stacking it with a wood pile from the former World Tree, just waiting for someone to light a match, if I understood the implication correctly.)    

Somehow, the ring gets flung back into the Rhine, and Hagen tries to get it but is drowned by a couple of Rhinemaidens. ("Don't cross women" seems to be a major lesson of this opera.}

And, thus (don't ask me how, exactly) the world is redeemed.   I've actually got to go read how this is meant to work - I suppose it might have something to do with the Gods in this universe not being benevolent and wise and all powerful, but instead meddling nuisances who don't really know what they want.  Except a good house:  remember, waaaay back at the start, a lot of Wotan's troubles began as a tradesman dispute over how they were going to get paid for building Valhalla.   But then again, the Rhinemaidens, who seem to have escaped all this destruction, probably shouldn't have taunted ugly dwarf Alberich, causing him to turn all incel and steal the gold (and make the ring) in the first place.    I think there is a fair bit of blame to spread around, here...

So, did this climax live up to my expectations?   Pretty much - the end music is pretty overwhelming.  I don't know why, but my heart rate was up for a while after it finished, and I was just watching and listening on my phone.  (Imagine Wagner knowing this is how someone would be viewing his work a century and a half after he wrote it! He'd be mortified.)

I am satisfied that I will enjoy the live production, whenever it may get to be staged in Brisbane, and now that I know the story, I won't have to concentrate quite so much if my cheap seat doesn't have a good view.

I may have to write more about this, after I read more....